THE EFFECT OF VARYING THE INTENSITY AND THE DURATION OF PREEXPOSURE UPON FOVEAL DARK ADAPTATION IN THE HUMAN EYE

Abstract

The course of foveal dark adaptation was studied as a function of the intensity and duration of preexposure. Four intensities (11,300, 5,650, 1,130, and 565 mL.) and four durations (300, 150, 30, and 15 seconds) were used in all combinations of intensity and duration. The threshold-measuring instrument was a monocular Hecht-Shlaer adaptometer and the threshold measurements were recorded in log micromicrolamberts. There were two subjects and each went through the complete series of intensities and durations five times. The five logarithmic values obtained for each threshold were converted into a geometric mean and these means were the data used in the analysis of the results. The chief results were as follows:— 1. For each subject the final steady threshold value was in the region of 7.0 log µµL. 2. As the intensity, or duration, or both, were increased the initial foveal dark adaptation threshold rose, the slope of the curve decreased, and the time to reach a final steady threshold value increased. 3. For those values of preexposure intensity and time for which the product, I x t, is a constant it was found that for the two higher intensities and two longer durations and also for the two lower intensities and two shorter durations, the dark adaptation curves were the same. For other values of I x t = C the curves were generally not the same.